Bonito as bait

[Robertos87]

Hey guys,

I have heard that bonito is a pretty good bait.

Decided to give it a go on Saturday. Fished the Hawkesbury, caught a bonito on the troll and decided to fillet it up, chuck it out there and give it a go.

Had a small hit here and there, but that was it. Didnt have much luck on saturday with anything else so im still unsure as to how good a bait it really is.

My question for those that have used bonito as bait, is how effective do you find it? And what species do you find it attracts?

And lastly, how do you rate it's effectiveness compared to other fresh baits? Any replies will be appreciated.

Cheers,

Tight Lines,

Rob

[aeb870]

I do lots of spinning for Bonito and the likes off the rocks, I then take them home and freeze them as bait for my fishing trips.

The only problem I find with Bonito, it falls off the hook easily once picked at.

But overall I rate it as a decent bait, along with Frigate, and Slimies. Caught some really decent fish on all of them equally, and they have proven me success in both the ocean and the river systems.

[outdoordan]

I was doing it abit tough trying to get Jew baits. I only managed one squid early that morning and really needed to supplement my bait supplies. I got to the beach a little earlier than usual in order to spin the headland and try to spin up a few tailor. All I managed was a Bonnie and a few little Macks.

I kept the bonnie and a mack as bait, and steaked a claim on a gutter before sunset. I got 4 baits off the bonnie and 4 off the mack. In the next 3 hours i got bitten off 5 times and landed 3 noahs. The only attention the squid baits got was from the local bream population. One 35cm model was unlucky enough to get pinned in the side with an 8/0 as he gorged himself on my hard earnt calamari.

Unless i want to catch sharks, I'll give bonnies/tuna a miss from now on.

Edited April 30, 2012 by OutdoorDan

[Singers83]

We usually knock the fillets off them and eat the good bits - delicious!

The belly flaps we use as strip baits, they are awesome for the big flatties.

Bloodline, frame and head all go in the chomper for berly - no waste at all.

Cheers,

Singers

[The Incredible Hull]

Decided to give it a go on Saturday. Fished the Hawkesbury, caught a bonito on the troll and decided to fillet it up, chuck it out there and give it a go.

Had a small hit here and there, but that was it. Didnt have much luck on saturday with anything else so im still unsure as to how good a bait it really is.

Keyword is Hawkesbury. Explore other systems mate.

The phrase "persistence pays off" doesn't apply to the Hawkesbury.

[Robertos87]

Keyword is Hawkesbury. Explore other systems mate.

The phrase "persistence pays off" doesn't apply to the Hawkesbury.

Oh ok, see I have been persisting with the Hawkesbury and just don't seem to be having the success others are. Been varying my techniques, trolling, drifting and anchoring up. Using hardbodies, soft plastics, live and dead bait. What system do you fish Hull?

[rjc123]

I've caught big bream and flathead on bonnie fillets in the hawkesbury. I find a 2 hook snelled rig with 4/0 suicides to be best. I only get the bream and flathead on bigger strips and small tailor on small strips

[Plumb]

I love bonito as bait, I've caught flat head, mowies, snapper, leather jacket, and all sorts of unknown reef fish,

Fresh it stays on the hook till you pull it off with pliers. On My last outing we caught around 40 flathead, ( 36 Under sized) on bonito. I love it, though next time I'm going to eat one and see how it fairs

Cheers Luke

[The Incredible Hull]

Oh ok, see I have been persisting with the Hawkesbury and just don't seem to be having the success others are. Been varying my techniques, trolling, drifting and anchoring up. Using hardbodies, soft plastics, live and dead bait. What system do you fish Hull?

Sent you a PM dude.

[Benzeenees]

best to salt it. At our local bait shop a half a side of salted bonito is $6! It's top bait.

Place fillets in a plastic container and sprinkle liberally with cooking salt (or pool salt). Some people recommend adding a bit of brown sugar. Then more fillets, then more salt etc. Store in a cool place for several days. Strain off the liquid which comes out and add more salt. Keep the liquid to add to burley just like you would use tuna oil. You can store the liquid in the freezer, but it won't freeze. Ditto the fillets which makes them much easier to use than frozen unsalted fish.

If the fillets are thick, cut a slice off leving about 1cm (half an inch) on the skin. This is your bait. Salt the sliced off piece and then cut it up into cubes for use as burley.

You can do this with other soft bait like left over pilchards, slimey mackerel, striped tuna, barracouta etc.

[Marcel]

I went on a charter a while back and we started off trolling first and we got some bonito then when we started bottom bashing the deckie pulled out these frozen prawns that stunk and must have been in his freezer for a decade so we tried them and didn't get much so i said cut up one of those bonnies he was a bit hesitant I think he wanted to take them home and I put some fresh Bonnie on and got a snapper of 3kgs and another bout 2kgs So it's pretty good bait but I prefer frigate I'd rather eat bonnies they are beautiful even my missus eats them and she's not a big fan of fish

[brickman]

if your going to fish the hawks try the point opposite juno on the runout tide 25m west off the point in 6 to 8 meters and 15 meter out theres a good drop off and you need to have a berly pot with weight under the boat use you bonito baits and a small pee sinker and free spool your line till it hits the deck

also use a patenoser rig with good weight straight up and down the flattys will come up the berly trail it will take 30 or so min.you can also expect big blue nose bream on the free spooled rig and the odd soapy jew as well

for the best result get there 1.5 hours before high tide and fish till 2 hours past hight tide

for free spooling baits like bonito the baits need to be the size off the palm off your hand the peckers will eat all the meat but the flattys love the skin good luck and let us know how you go cheers gary

[AndrewNR]

I have caught Jew on bonito strip baits in Sydney harbour. I left the skin on and put the hook through the skin and flesh which helped it stay on. The skin is tough Good bait but good quality pillies I think are better for all round bait. I find shop bought squid is not that good but freshly caught squid is number 1 for all bait. Big slabs of bonnies off the beach are gun shark baits.

[aeb870]

best to salt it. At our local bait shop a half a side of salted bonito is $6! It's top bait.

Place fillets in a plastic container and sprinkle liberally with cooking salt (or pool salt). Some people recommend adding a bit of brown sugar. Then more fillets, then more salt etc. Store in a cool place for several days. Strain off the liquid which comes out and add more salt. Keep the liquid to add to burley just like you would use tuna oil. You can store the liquid in the freezer, but it won't freeze. Ditto the fillets which makes them much easier to use than frozen unsalted fish.

If the fillets are thick, cut a slice off leving about 1cm (half an inch) on the skin. This is your bait. Salt the sliced off piece and then cut it up into cubes for use as burley.

You can do this with other soft bait like left over pilchards, slimey mackerel, striped tuna, barracouta etc.

In regards to freezing the salted fillet. How long can it be kept frozen before it's no good? And also, how long does it normally take to salt the fillets (i.e. couple of days, hours, etc)?

Cheers

[Yowie]

In regards to freezing the salted fillet. How long can it be kept frozen before it's no good? And also, how long does it normally take to salt the fillets (i.e. couple of days, hours, etc)?

Cheers

Have used the frozen fillets for up to 12 months after freezing. By that time they may have a tendency for the meat to flake off the skin. I freeze my own fillets after salting, and prefer the smaller fish, as the bigger fish have chunky fillets and it is harder to remove the excess moisture from the flesh.

For the bigger fish, the fillets will need a couple of days before freezing, with the fluid drained out of the dish and new salt added after one day. After 2 days, gently press the flesh, if it is soft and a bit squishy, add more salt and leave for another day. I use a large glass baking dish, because the fishy smell will not stay behind as it may in a steel pan (sure to upset the missus), and place it in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Mackerel or tailor fillets are usually ready after overnight salting.

Yowie.

[Robertos87]

Thanks for all the replies guys. As far as freezing and salting, do u find a big drop in effectiveness as opposed to it fresh? And do u think they would be a good bait to target kings?

[aeb870]

Thanks for the information on salting fillets; I will have to try it now. Should be much cheaper than the bait shops.

In terms of effectiveness, I have used the salted ones before and they worked wonders. I have never really used it to target larger fish (kingfish, Jewfish, etc) but I know it produced for me some large Bream.

[Benzeenees]

I think it's better salted than fresh - it certainly stays on the hook better. Just about anything will eat it - esp flathead, snapper and mowies. I haven't tried it with kingfish - live yellowtail are easy to catch.

BTW, the longer you salt it, the better. At least 3 days. In the fridge if possible.

[Trevalyslayer]

On 4/30/2012 at 12:29 PM, Robertos87 said:

Hey guys,

I have heard that bonito is a pretty good bait.

Decided to give it a go on Saturday. Fished the Hawkesbury, caught a bonito on the troll and decided to fillet it up, chuck it out there and give it a go.

Had a small hit here and there, but that was it. Didnt have much luck on saturday with anything else so im still unsure as to how good a bait it really is.

My question for those that have used bonito as bait, is how effective do you find it? And what species do you find it attracts?

And lastly, how do you rate it's effectiveness compared to other fresh baits? Any replies will be appreciated.

Cheers,

Tight Lines,

Rob

Use a fish finder to locate schools of jewfish on the bottom either side of train bridge throw large soft plastics or live mullet, tailor, bonito , whiting, Luderick down to them enjoy